Nouns

Nouns are words that refer to a person, place, thing, or idea.

Common nouns

Common nouns are nouns that refer to a general—rather than a specific—person, place, thing, or idea. A common noun should not be capitalized unless there is a grammatical reason to do so, such as the noun being the first word in a sentence.

Example: student, brother, firefighter (person)
Example: canyon, supermarket, country, outer space (place)
Example: pencil, car, dog, tree, nose, comet (thing)
Example: freedom, mathematics, taxation, democracy, communism (idea)

Some words function as multiple parts of speech.

Example: I looked up at the blue sky. (adjective)
Example: The blue of the ocean is filled with mystery. (noun)

Example: I run every morning before school starts. (verb)
Example: Every morning before school starts, I go for a run. (noun)

Proper nouns

Proper nouns are nouns that refer to a specific person, place, thing, or idea. A proper noun should generally be capitalized. Some proper nouns must also be italicized, such as the names of vessels and works of art. Refer to the Related Pages column for more information on capitalization and italicization.

Example: George Washington, President Washington (person)
Example: Paris, Disney World (place)
Example: Honda Civic, Mona Lisa, USS Enterprise, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (thing)
Example: Big Bang, Marxism (idea)

A noun can be used as a proper noun or as part of a proper noun when referring to something specific.

Example: He looked for advice on how to be a good father. (common noun)
Example: I waited in the living room for Father to return. (proper noun)

Example: She had to wake up early to take the bus to her high school. (common noun)
Example: She graduated from Plant High School. (proper noun)

Nouns that refer to ideas are sometimes treated as proper nouns. This is most common for principles like liberty, justice, or fortune or for natural phenomena like death, spring, or night. Generally, when ideas are treated as proper nouns, it is because they are being personified—being treated as if they were people.

Example: Slavery is an evil that Liberty cannot accept.
Example: I felt Death’s scythe swing at me and barely miss.
Example: After many cold months, Spring finally wrapped us in gentle warmth.

Plural nouns

Plural nouns are nouns that refer to multiple people, places, things, or ideas.

Refer to the Related Pages column for more information on how to pluralize nouns.

Example: actor – actors (person)
Example: plateau – plateaus (place)
Example: bus – buses (thing)
Example: monarchy – monarchies (idea)

Collective nouns

Collective nouns are nouns that refer to groups of people, places, things, or ideas. Collective nouns can be common nouns or proper nouns.

Collective common nouns:

Example: team, band, family, jury (people)
Example: mountain range, strip (places)
Example: herd, flock, collection, set (things)
Example: mathematics, literature, code (ideas)

Collective proper nouns:

Example: Americans, The Beatles, Metallica (people)
Example: Blue Ridge Mountains, the Seven Seas (places)
Example: The Criterion Collection, Goya’s Black Paintings (things)
Example: Ten Commandments, Four Noble Truths (ideas)

Context determines whether to treat a collective noun as a plural or singular form. If referring to a collective noun as a single entity, treat the collective noun as singular. If referring to a collective noun as a group of individuals, treat the collective noun as plural.

Example: My favorite band is The Beatles.
Example: The Beatles are talented and creative musicians.